Dear Jackman ICS Parents,
On behalf of the teachers and staff, I am sending you warm wishes for the March break holiday. We hope you will have special family times and we look forward to hearing the children’s stories when we return to school on Monday, March 25. See you then!
Before we head off into our March Break, here are some news items:
DAYCARE CAMP
March 18 to March 22 Daycare March Break Camp. More info here
READ-A-THON
The 25th Annual JICS Read-A-Thon runs throughout March!
Please visit our website for all the info you need regarding Read-a-Thon
TUITION SUPPORT GALA - Support the Future of Education
The Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study Lab School is now more important than ever as we continue to be committed to exploring what is possible in education so that we may serve our public purpose as a lab school. Our ability to conduct research on how children learn best requires us to operate a school which rich in ideas, strong in its vision, collaborative in its approach, and intentionally diverse in its student, teacher, and family population. Intentional diversity enhances the learning of the children, the efficacy of our research, and the education of the teacher-candidates. At JICS this includes diversity of all types: abilities; racial and cultural backgrounds; family structures; and socio-economic status. In order to achieve true diversity, we must be able to offer financial support to families, and this is why we need your help. Please buy your tickets to the JICS Tuition Support Gala.
Early Bird Tickets Until April 1: $145
Regular Tickets: $165
In support of the Diana Rankin Muncaster Family Tuition Support Fund (more info here)
Date: Wednesday, May 8th, 2019
Time: 7:00pm – Late
Location: The Fifth, 225 Richmond Street West
JICS TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Each Wednesday afternoon, the teachers gather for our professional development meetings. Since 2006, one of the most important collaborative forms of staff professional development we are involved in is called Lesson Study and comes from the Japanese education system.
Teachers collaboratively identify an area of focus for instruction, research, test out, and design a lesson, or series of lessons, for children in a particular grade. This year's theme emerged out of a powerful response from earlier this year, when the Grade 5 & 6 students visited the Anthropocene film screening and AGO exhibit. Through the awe-inspiring photography and filmography of former JICS parents: Edward Burtynsky, Jennifer Baichwal, and Nick de Pencier, the Anthropocene had both staff and students witnessing, feeling, and talking about the unprecedented impact and scale of human activity on the Earth. The conversations that ensued in classrooms, staff meetings, lunch rooms, and all corners of the school, made it clear that this viewing experience had relinquished a burning need to deepen and expand on this learning as a community.
Over the last few months, JICS’ teachers worked with our Natural Curiosity colleagues to create developmentally appropriate lessons inspired by the theme of Anthropocene. It is the collaborative research and design aspect that has the most profound learning for the teachers – learning from the expertise and perspective of teachers from various grades and disciplines. The final product of the experience is a lesson that is conducted with JICS students, observed by the entire staff and debriefed with experts in the field. This year, 2 lessons were designed. In the primary lesson, Grade 2 children were paired up with SKs, mentoring them to deepen their understanding about recycling (uncovering some myths and misconceptions) —a tricky topic for adults and children alike. The Junior Grade lesson was designed for our Grade 6 students. They examined the medium of photography as a tool for exploring the complex realities of human relationships with the Earth. Both lessons were presented on Wednesday, February 27. We were honoured to have Nick de Pencier and Cathleen Evans from Mercury Films join us and offer their insights. Our discussant was Pam Miller, instructional leader at TDSB EcoSchools, and a longstanding trailblazer and friend in the environmental education community. We thank her for pushing our learning further.
CONFERENCES
We are delighted to announce that Tara will be presenting her research at the National Art Education Association National Convention March 14 to 16 in Boston, MA.
Haley Higdon, Natural Curiosity Program Director, is attending and presenting at the Think Indigenous Conference March 20-22 in Edmonton, Alberta.
Chriss and Richard will be attending the International Association of Laboratory Schools Conference in Fort Worth, Texas “Unlocking Potential and Changing Lives: Keys for teaching diverse learners” March 20 to 23. They look forward to presenting and learning along representatives for other lab schools around the world.
Upcoming Dates to Note
March 11 to March 22: March Break School Closed
March 18 to March 22: Daycare March Break Camp Open
March 25: Spring Term Begins
April 9: Exciting Parent Ed Event (details coming soon)
April 17 and April 24: Parent Teacher Interviews (Nurs/JK/SK, Gr 4/5/6) (sign up details coming soon)
For more important dates, please refer to our School Calendar
